Core77 Design Awards 2013 Honorees: Equipment, Part One

Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year's Core77 Design Awards 2013. We will be featuring these projects by category, so stay tuned for your favorite categories of design! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com.

The Smiths Detection HazMatID Elite is a portable chemical identifier used to detect hazardous chemical and biological substances. The product is used by military and civilian first responders to quickly and accurately detect health and safety risks in the field.

The product helps first responders keep people out of harm's way and reduce the social and economic impacts of chemical incidents and attacks via a clear and intuitive design.

- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?

We watched it live!

- What's the latest news or development with your project?

The device has won Appliance Design Excellence in Design Gold and IDSA IDEA Bronze.

- What is one quick anecdote about your project?

The client HazMatID Elite development team were very flexible and open-minded to some of our more novel interaction design ideas—which really allowed us to push the boundaries of designing their next generation user interface beyond what they were used to in the past.

- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?

Realizing that the thoughtful information architecture, and the functional design of user interfaces for first-responders is hugely important, and in some cases, could be a matter of life or death.

EYE-SYNC is a portable neurodiagnostic device used to identify potential cases of traumatic brain Injury (TBI) / concussion. A set of cameras, electronics and optical components track a patient's eye movements. Advanced algorithms quantify how well a patient's eyes can follow and synthesize a visual target. Its head mounted display and hooded goggles fit on a wide variety of head shapes and sizes. Exterior housing was built to withstand rugged use in the military theater, on the athletic field and in other remote venues. Administration by a medical professional or trained individual makes critical information available in critical situations.

- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?

Our category was announced at 3am Eastern time in the USA. As a result, tool., Inc. learned about our recognition via email. It was quite exciting to read the "Congratulations" message on the Sync Think EYE-SYNC project. It is an honor to receive international recognition for our work.

- What's the latest news or development with your project?

Sync Think is having great success working with the US military to gain real-time feedback on the EYE-SYNC device and how it is being used to make important decisions around soldier safety and well being. Quick, reliable identification of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) - or concussions, as they are more commonly known - is an extremely relevant topic for US soldiers deployed around the world. EYE-SYNC allows individuals with cognitive impairment to be promptly identified and removed from potentially harmful activity. In other news, the EYE-SYNC device was featured on a great segment of Bloomberg Television's "Taking Stock." Dr. Jamshid Ghajar of the Brain Trauma Foundation discussed this new diagnostic technology for traumatic brain injuries. A video clip from the show can be found here.

- What is one quick anecdote about your project?

tool., Inc. was introduced to Sync Think by Bre Pettis at MakerBot Industries. We had just finished working with MakerBot when Bre thought tool., Inc. would be a good match for what Sync Think was looking to achieve. Let's just say this—it's always a good day when a guy who's on the cover of WIRED magazine (the design issue, no less) puts in a good word on your behalf. Thanks to Bre and Sync Think for your outstanding vision of a match made to last.

- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?

Both tool., Inc. and Sync Think knew it was critically important to minimize the weight of the device. Its ability to be a portable solution hinged on it being lightweight. Additionally, we all knew that user comfort - when the device was placed on the head - was directly influenced by the overall weight. However, after our first round of ideation, we mocked up a super rough weight distribution model using a climbing helmet and a weighted bar (see the PDF - Phase 1a). Weights were placed on the bar and moved closer or further from the head. After putting this on a number of heads, we found that users found a greater amount of weight bearable (dare we say "comfortable") if it was well-distributed and if the load was balanced on the head. While the goal was still a lightweight device, this helped tool., Inc. work through a few comfort issues towards a more resolved solution for all users.

VaccJect is a safe, simple and cost effective cartridge-based alternative to a prefilled syringe. Its unique passive retraction mechanism never exposes the needle, either before, during or after injection. The drug is contained in a standard 1ml ISO cartridge and is kept separate from the device until point of use. This greatly reduces cold-chain shipping and storage costs and eliminates the need for secondary packaging at the pharmaceutical facility. VaccJect takes advantage of the numerous benefits of a cartridge over a syringe: Low cost, high speed filling, baked silicone, no tungsten, etc.

Duoject is pleased to announce that the device is currently being evaluated by many large pharmaceutical companies worldwide and has successfully undergone various user studies. We're taking necessary steps to bring VaccJect to the market in the near future.

- What is one quick anecdote about your project?

During a focus study, a potential client was present with us behind the one-way mirror and mentioned that the next group of testers, in this case physicians, was very harsh in evaluating new medical devices. He essentially told us to prepare for the worst. To everyone's surprise, the first doctor gave the device a near perfect score, as did all the following testers in this group. The expression on the client's face was priceless!

- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?

It's pretty hard to pinpoint the "a-ha" moment in the design of the VaccJect. A lot of small "a-ha" moments is probably closer to what happened during the development process. We have tons of objects to play with around the office and during the VaccJect project, the analogy to a ballpoint pen was one of the main inspirations for the design. Another "a-ha" moment was when we decided to keep the small drug container separate from the device until moment of injection. We realized that this decision could be a potential game changer for applications where medication must be kept refrigerated and areas where cold storage is at a premium.

ul.da {list-style: none!important; float: left; width: auto!important; height: auto;} ul.da li {margin: 0 0 7px 7px!important;}Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year's Core77 Design Awards 2013. We will be featuring these projects by category, so stay tuned for your favorite categories...

ul.da {list-style: none!important; float: left; width: auto!important; height: auto;} ul.da li {margin: 0 0 7px 7px!important;}Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year's Core77 Design Awards 2013. We will be featuring these projects by category, so stay tuned for your favorite categories...

ul.da {list-style: none!important; float: left; width: auto!important; height: auto;} ul.da li {margin: 0 0 7px 7px!important;}Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year's Core77 Design Awards 2013. We will be featuring these projects by category, so stay tuned for your favorite categories...

ul.da {list-style: none!important; float: left; width: auto!important; height: auto;} ul.da li {margin: 0 0 7px 7px!important;}Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year's Core77 Design Awards 2013. We will be featuring these projects by category, so stay tuned for your favorite categories...